A Cup of Tea
by arliddian
Summary: The TARDIS always knows what the Doctor's next step should be, even if he doesn't. Doctor/Tardis one-shot, set after 'The God Complex'.


**A Cup of Tea**

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><p><strong>Summary:<strong> The TARDIS always knows what the Doctor's next step should be, even if he doesn't. Doctor/Tardis one-shot, set after 'The God Complex'.  
><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Written for a request on LJ, prompted with Eleven/TARDIS and "a quiet night at home".  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>Don't own it; don't sue me.

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><p>"Well, old girl, looks like it's just you and me again." The Doctor walks slowly around the console, letting a hand trail over the controls.<p>

He looks around the room, so strangely dim and empty without Rory and Amy. The dartboard is still up beside the door. Rory's patient, even handwriting on the scoreboard brings a smile to his face and an ache to his hearts. They can go on now, live their lives and embark on a brand new adventure, and he will not have to watch them die. He has given them one last gift, one last way that he can save him after all of his failures.

And now he is alone again. As he should be.

He turns back to the console and pulls down the scanner. His own image looks back at him, with those familiar words, that familiar date. Lake Silencio. How much longer does he have before he has to return there?

There is still so much of the universe he has yet to see. So many places to visit, civilisations to explore, people to see. So much running to do.

_And why shouldn't I keep running?_ he wonders. It's what he's been doing his whole life, running and running, and now he decides that he is going outrun time itself. If he's going to die, it doesn't have to be today. It doesn't have to be tomorrow. It doesn't have to be at all except when _he _decides it should be, and until then he is going to keep on running, running alone.

Newly determined, he sets a course for his next destination. He has an appointment he should keep: Virginia needs his expert bowling skills if they are to win the next game.

"Off we go!" he exclaims to the TARDIS. He enthusiastically pulls down a lever.

Nothing happens.

Confused, he dashes around the console, flicking switches and pressing buttons. "Come on," he cajoles. "You're a TARDIS, not a station-wagon; you can't stall!"

The TARDIS makes a low, vibrating noise that sounds remarkably like the sound an exasperated wife might make while snatching the remote control from her husband (he tries not to think about Amy and Rory and their arguments on karaoke nights).

"What's gotten into you, eh?" The Doctor looks up at the time rotor, but everything seems to be functioning normally. "Why are you being stubborn?"

She makes that noise again, and suddenly everything shuts down. Alarmed, the Doctor takes his hands off the controls. They're still in flight, still within the Time Vortex, but the TARDIS isn't _going _anywhere.

The control room has gone dark. The Doctor returns to the controls, furiously and frantically trying to switch everything back on, get her moving again.

"What are you doing?" he asks her, frustrated. "Are you locking me out of the controls? You can't lock me out; you're _my _TARDIS! Why would you do that?"

She makes no audible response. But a single light flickers on - the light in the hallway leading from the control room.

The Doctor looks from the light to the time rotor and back again.

"Is that a hint?"

She hums again, this time sounding more encouraging. So the Doctor takes the hint and heads towards the hallway.

More lights flicker on as he walks, guiding him through the winding corridors in a clear and deliberate path.

"This is a little silly, you know," he tells her, glancing up at the next glowing light. "We could be anywhere in the universe right now, and you want to play hide and seek!"

The TARDIS simply continues to illuminate the way until he is standing in the kitchen. The room is only dimly lit, but he can see the three mismatched mugs that still sit on the table - Rory's, plain and simple and striped white and red; Amy's, printed with a copy of Vincent's _Sunflowers_; and his, as blue as his TARDIS, taller and skinnier than the others.

The Doctor smiles sadly as he looks at those mugs. The last time they had sat down together for a cup of tea had been before they had arrived at the Hotel. They had been drinking Ravens Scala's famous relaxation tea, left over from his last trip there - a sixteenth of a tea leaf for each mug, no need to strain. The tea had prompted him to suggest Ravens Scala as their next destination. The rest of the giant tea leaf still lies on the counter, giving off a faint and pleasing aroma.

He is startled out of his reminiscing by the piercing whistle of the kettle. He turns to stare at it with furrowed brow.

"I didn't put you on," he muses aloud.

A light snaps on, just above the kettle. Then another, over the tea leaf. Realisation dawns.

"A cup of tea," the Doctor says, and he smiles again, this time not quite so sadly. "You want me to have a cup of tea." He pats the countertop affectionately. "All right. One cup of tea. Then it's off to see the universe."

Two minutes later, the Doctor takes his full mug into his hands and sits down at the table. The tea is hot and fragrant and soothing, and he can feel some of the tension leaving his shoulders. He looks down at the other two empty mugs.

"Do you remember when Amy first made tea for Rory in here?" he says aloud to the TARDIS, looking up at the ceiling. "She picked the extra-spicy stuff from Rojosh VII by mistake. Poor Rory. He very nearly breathed fire."

The Doctor chuckles slightly at the memory, ending with a fond sigh. His smile fades as he thinks of Rory, whom he left without a proper goodbye. He thinks of Amy, and the silence that seems so deafening now that she is not here to break it with her cheerfulness.

"They were brilliant, weren't they?" he says quietly. "The Ponds. The boy and girl who waited. Well, now they don't have to wait any more." Another sigh escapes his lips, and he sips his tea again with sad eyes. "We'll miss them."

The TARDIS emits a low hum in agreement. The Doctor looks down at his mug and raises it in a silent toast to his former companions. The next sip fills him with pleasant warmth, and he begins to relax. Perhaps this is what he needed, after all. A brief pause before he continues running. A chance to pay tribute to Amy and Rory, to remember their adventures and all the good times they had shared together. A little time to come to terms with being on his own again, just a madman with a box. But he has never been a madman with _just _a box. No, he's a madman with the best box in the universe.

"What say we have a quiet night in tonight, hmmm?" he says, lightly pressing his hand lovingly against the wall. "Virginia can wait. We can start running tomorrow."

The TARDIS makes a murmuring noise, and the rest of the lights begin to fade back on. The Doctor smiles.

"You always know what I need, don't you, girl?" He reaches up and tenderly caresses the wall. "A little breather. Time to remember. A cup of tea."

She hums tenderly back at him. The Doctor sips his tea and allows the rest of the universe to fade into the background. For tonight, it's just him and her, and the memories of all the people they have loved, and all the journeys they have taken together.

_Fin_


End file.
